Door checks have been used for many years in many kinds of doors, including recreational vehicle doors. The door check comprises a link and a check body. The link is typically attached to a fixed member, such as the structural body of a vehicle or a door jamb, and the check body is attached to a door. When the door is opened, the check body moves with the door. The link rotates, and since the check body and the link are not rotating about the same axis, the check body slides with respect to the link. Typically the main link has a ramped surface and a recessed surface, often referred to as a detent or well, and the check body has a roller or bearing that rolls or slides over the main link. As the check body moves across the ramped surface the amount of force needed to move the door increases. Then, once the check body moves past the ramped surface to the well, the amount of force required to move the door drops. Thus, the door is temporarily held in a hold-open position which can be overcome only by applying additional force to the door to permit the roller to move back over the ramped surface.
A problem with this kind of design is that the sweep of the link requires a great deal of space in the door. This is especially a problem for thin doors such as those used in recreational vehicles and trucks. To accommodate the sweep of the link, a large portion of material in such doors has to be removed, reducing the structural integrity of the door and increasing the likelihood of problems with wind noise and water penetration behind the door. Moreover, the door check must be made large to accommodate the large change in the angle between the link and the door check as the door pivots from open to closed positions.
Therefore it would be highly desirable to provide a door check which can be installed in a thin door, such as those common in recreational vehicles and trucks, without interfering with the structural integrity, aesthetics and element-resisting features of the door.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a door check which reduces interference with the structural integrity of the door. It is another object of the present invention to provide a door check which is easy to assemble and which is highly reliable in operation.